Just as you'd expected, your sleep was plagued with nightmares.
The first one was brief, one you didn't remember the details of. You just were left with the feeling of dread it left behind.
Luckily Dabi was still awake when you woke from that one, scrolling through his phone with a frown on his face.
When you'd cuddled more into his side with a little whine, he'd glanced down at you, the look of anger at his phone changing to one of pity as he looked down at you.
He'd put his phone down on his chest, petting your hair and softly shushing you.
The second time, you'd dreamed that the big, blonde, muscular hero that had slung you over your shoulder had actually managed to get away with tearing you away from Dabi and his coworkers.
He'd taken you to a home, where you were left with all the other kids that either weren't wanted, or had lost their parents too, and Imasuji had tried to adopt you.
That one had you waking with a gasp, your fingers digging into the ribbed scars on Dabi's arms with enough power to make him wake with a hissed curse word that you pretended not to hear.
Rinse and repeat with how he managed to get you back to sleep, this time he leaned his head against your own, giving the odd kiss to the top of your head.
The final nightmare you had, you dreamed that Dabi was actually dead, and that you'd just been sleeping the entire time earlier, dreaming he was still alive.
The others decided they didn't want to look after you and left you on the streets again, and they hadn't even given you teddy back.
You'd tried searching for Giran, but no-one knew who he was, and if they did, they wouldn't take you to him.
Dabi had actually woken you up from that one, asking you why you were calling out for Giran in your sleep. You were confused at first, relieved to see Dabi was still alive, and then ecstatic to see your teddy wedged between you and Dabi.
You'd whispered about what you'd dreamt about to Dabi, clinging onto him as though you'd fall to your death if you didn't.
"Wanna try 'Yumi's trick?" He asks sleepily. "Can ya do it yourself or do ya need me to come up wi' somethin'?"
You always preferred the stories Dabi would come up with in comparison to your own, so you opt for that choice, wondering what he'd change your nightmare into this time.
He takes a little while coming up with something, to the point you'd actually wondered if he'd fallen asleep.
"They were jus' gonna throw you a big surprise party." He says with a yawn. "Uncle Giran was gonna be there too. That's why ya couldn't find him."
"A party?" You query quietly.
"Mhm. Because you were so brave earlier." Dabi mumbles sleepily, nuzzling his face into your hair.
The story rolls off his tongue so fluidly, like he'd done it a million times before so it was effortless for him to do it again.
"Why would they leave me on the street for a party?" You ask, trying to poke holes in his story.
"It was gonna be a street party, they were waitin' for you to find them." He replies, as though he had already been expecting you to ask that.
"But I'd still be sad that you were dead, even if there was a party." You say sadly.
"I faked my death for the extra surprise." He says, continuing to spin his tale.
Surprisingly, it really does help. His answers were plausible in your sleepy, young brain. You try to reimagine the dream you had in Dabi's version. It's a lot better than the nightmare you'd actually had, and the use of your imagination does actually help you lull yourself back to sleep again, comfortably cuddled up against Dabi.
*â¢*
You wake up disoriented, waking up sweaty enough for your hair to be slicked to your face.
You give a confused grunt, leaning up on one of your elbows, taking in the slightly blurry sight of Dabi quickly changing the TV channel to cartoons.
"Afternoon, dollface." Dabi greets, although his voice sounds falsely cheerful. "Feelin' okay?"
"It's afternoon?" You ask, sitting up and rubbing your eyes.
Dabi hums an affirmative, ruffling your hair, and for some reason his hand feels warmer than usual.
You yawn, stretching out, and wiggling your little toes. You still felt like you could have slept more, but Dabi seems to have been up for a while. You knew Dabi well enough by now to know that when he first wakes up, his voice is a lot gruffer.
"Adventure Time's on." He says, nodding his head towards the TV.
You quite enjoyed Adventure Time, when Shigaraki would let you watch it downstairs in the bar. You liked the theme song, and sometimes would sing it under your breath as you would traipse around the bar. You liked Jake the dog, and felt a little sorry for the Ice King.
"What were you watching before?" You ask, leaning your head on his shoulder.
"Nothin'." He replies quickly.
"I saw you change the channel." You argue. "Were you watching something bad?"
"What?!" Dabi asks, his voice mixed between shock, offense and amusement. "Like what, little Star?"
"Mommy used to watch scary movies. And movies and shows with lots of swearing in." You say matter-of-factly. "And shows with special cuddles in."
Dabi's face contorts, flicking through a few different expressions before settling into a look of disgust, his face all screwed up.
"Was watchin' the news. Tha's all." He says, his tone a little irritable and defensive again.
You flinch a little, not expecting him to suddenly switch moods like that.
You don't understand what you've done wrong, or what you may have said wrong that would have made him mad. And you didn't understand why he kept getting mad at you and denying the fact he was.
You move away from him, reaching for teddy and placing your thumb in your mouth.
You feel Dabi's glances at you, the odd sigh and frustrated huff leaving him as you feign interest in Adventure Time for the first time ever.
Maybe the hero that had hit his head had hit him really hard and Dabi was going to be different all the time now, like that one man that you remember listening about on a radio show one time.
Maybe he'd been mean the entire time and had just been hiding it.
Maybe Dabi had finally decided he didn't want you anymore, and only lied last night to get you to go to sleep.
"Sorry darlin'." Dabi offers finally, brushing rough knuckles over your cheek. "I'm still a little tired, an' the news is stressin' me out."
"Why?" You ask, losing interest in accepting his apologies when he continued to repeat the actions he was apologising for.
Dabi is silent for a second or two. "They're just lyin'. As usual."
"About what?" You ask immediately.
"Everythin'." He says bluntly and finally, making you feel as though you can't ask any further questions.
You frown at him, but don't push, knowing that if you ended up in an argument with him, you would fall to pieces within seconds.
"I wanna see Uncle Giran." You mumble a little wistfully, the thought leaving your mouth without you really meaning it to.
Giran was never grouchy with you after all, especially over something like the news stressing him out. He was always soft and loving, and although Dabi never usually was this snappy and cold towards you, you weren't feeling comfortable in his presence and you were beginning to get grouchy too, angry that Dabi had broken rule number one again.
"You can't kid. 'M sorry." Dabi sighs, reaching to pet your cheek. "We've gotta keep our heads down for a little while, those heroes are probably sniffin' around all over for us."
"Why? We didn't do anything wrong." You huff, crossing your arms over your chest. "I wouldn'tve made them sick if they didn't hurt you first!"
Dabi blinks, his rough thumb pausing its dance over your cheek.
"Ain't nothin' to do with what you did, doll." Dabi reassures. "You're jus' a kid. They're not after you."
"Then what have they got to be mad about?" You ask in exasperation, leaning closer to him.
"Tha's an adult problem, 'kay? Leave it to me, an' don't worry your pretty lil head about it."
He kisses your head, before scooting away from you, stretching out gently and picking up his carton of cigarettes from the floor.
"Up ya get little Star, 's a brand new day." He teases, flicking your nose gently. "A little birdie told me that there's a present for ya downstairs."
"A present?" You repeat, confused.
Dabi winks at you, gesturing for you to follow him. You blink a couple times, pulling your pyjama top down a little further down in slight anxiety. You weren't sure why you'd have a present, none of them knew when your birthday was.
"C'mon. You'll love it." He promises, waving his hand impatiently.
You squint a little. You'd been lured into unfavorable situations before with the promise of a present, and as much as you trusted Dabi, you couldn't help the slight niggle of doubt that gnawed at your stomach from the memories of past experiences.
You swallow the nervousness though, and try to ignore the alarms going off in the back of your mind.
Dabi was okay. He was safe. He didn't touch you when you didn't want to be touched, and he wouldn't use a lie about a present to put you in a situation you'd be unhappy with.
You get out of bed, and pad towards him, looking up at him, at his bright blue eyes that stood out so strongly amongst his black hair and dark scarring. He smirks down at you.
"Can't wait to see ya little face." He grins, pinching your cheek and shaking the skin between his fingers gently.
You pout, not appreciating being made to feel like a baby, but the glitter of playfulness in Dabi's eyes makes your expression soften almost immediately. He'd been a little up and down since last night, so the fact he looked happy was good, relieving even.
You obediently walk in front of him towards the elevator as he hangs back a little behind you, smoking. When you reach the doors, he flicks his cigarette across the hallway, towards a specific door, and chuckles, ruffling your hair and pressing the button.
You're getting a little confused by the ups and downs in his moods again. He was back to being the Dabi you knew and loved, the silly, playful one that you would trust with your life, and not the mean and snappy one that kept rearing its head.
The longer you both stand in silence in the elevator, Dabi's eyes trained on the floor again, as though he were avoiding the mirrors, the more you begin to convince yourself that Dabi really was mad at you and didn't have an actual present for you downstairs, but was actually going to take you downstairs for the others to punish you, just like mommy and her boyfriend used to do.
So when the elevator dings, and Dabi steps outside, you stand in place, refusing to move.
"What're you doin'?" He asks in amusement. "C'mon."
You shake your head, your hair flying around your face.
Your hands are trembling a little, so you keep them clasped together in front of you, hoping to hide the fact you were trembling in fear from Dabi.
"Wha's up with ya, Star?" Dabi asks, clearly confused. "Did somethin' spook ya?"
You shake your head again feverishly.
The elevator doors start closing, but Dabi shoves his hand in the way, causing them to open again.
"C'mon, 's safe out here, promise." Dabi says, leaning on his hand against the elevator door. "Aren't ya excited for your present?"
The question makes you feel a little nauseous, your features pulling into a grimace. Your hands clench around each other, your eyes falling to stare at the floor much like Dabi's did whenever he was in the elevator.
Your aversion to his glacial gaze isn't long lasting, as he crouches in front of you, tilting your chin upwards to look at his face. His usual bored expression has a tinge of concern to it, his eyebrows ever-so-slightly pulled together.
"Whassup?" He asks softly.
"Is there really a present?" You ask quietly.
"'Course there is, princess. Why would I lie to ya?" Dabi asks, tilting his head.
"Because you're mad at me and you're trying to trick me into a punishment." You reply slowly, regretting the words the second they leave you.
You see his expression quickly change from concerned, to horrified, to sad within one mere moment.
"Someone done that to ya before?" He asks quietly, almost knowingly.
You stay still, not really wanting to think or talk about it.
He doesn't seem to need a verbal response, ducking a little further to catch your eye.
"Can ya look at me?" He asks, keeping his voice soft as he speaks to you.
You slowly lift your head so he doesn't have to lower himself down any further.
His usual icy, hard glare seems a little softer than usual as he looks up at you, his hand reaching to graze his knuckles over your cheek.
You lean into it subconsciously. Usually when someone was angry with you, they wouldn't go as far as giving you gentle touches like this to keep you feeling a false sense of security.
"Listen properly to me, 'kay?"
You nod a little.
"I ain't mad at ya. Not even a little. I pinky promise." He holds his pinky towards you, and you take it within yours instantly.
You both shake on it, Dabi giving you a little smile, curving the stapled corners of his mouth upwards ever so slightly.
"Now, listen good." He continues, keeping his voice as soft as it ever seemed to get. "I ain't ever gonna 'punish' ya. Even if I ever am mad at ya, we'll talk it out."
He looks around a little, as if making sure that no-one else was around before dipping his voice a little lower, his expression turning a little solemn.
"My old man used to do that to us too." Dabi admits lowly. "An' I don't wanna be like him. Would rather croak right here, right now."
You don't really understand what he means by that, but the new information about Dabi gives you a new perspective on what he meant when he spoke about his dad before. He said he'd been angry, and loud. And now you know that he punished Dabi growing up. You wonder if the punishments were like what mom's boyfriends did to you.
You hope not. Dabi wasn't bad.
"All I wanna do, is keep ya safe an' happy." Dabi sighs. "'Cause you shoulda had that from th' start. We both should've."
You nod a little, nudging your face against his knuckles again to get him to resume petting your face.
"So are ya gonna believe me when I tell ya there's a present for ya?" He asks, tilting his head again. "It's from everyone."
"Everyone?" You repeat shyly.
Dabi hums an affirmative, placing his hand fully over your cheek, coursing his thumb over the skin there.
"They wanted to say 'thank you' for you bein' such a lil Star yesterday." He explains. "Promise ya you'll love it."
"Okay." You agree, finally. "Can we hold hands?"
You can't explain it, but you feel like if you hold Dabi's hand, maybe his words will sink in properly and you won't be so worried about the others.
He nods, standing and reaching his hand out for you to take.
You take it, squeezing his warm hand a little and beginning to follow him as he gently leads you through the marble floored reception area.
It'd probably take you a while to get used to the layout of the hotel. The bar had been simple, the bar was downstairs, and then upstairs had been where all the bedrooms were. You didn't have to worry about reception areas, elevators, the bar, the restaurant or anything else that could be downstairs here.
Dabi holds the bar door open, ushering you through before him, his palm moving to the small of your back to gently push you into the room.
Everyone turns to look, Magne, Jin, Spinner and Toga's faces lighting up the second they see you. Shigaraki seems to be looking more at Dabi than at you, an uninterested look on his face. Kurogiri is as hard to read as always, as is Atsuhiro with his balaclava on.
Toga skips straight up to you, stopping just shy of you as you quickly duck behind Dabi's legs, clasping her hands behind her as she leans forwards, her yellow eyes twinkling with delight.
"We have a present for you!" She announces excitedly. "'Cause you were super cool yesterday!"
You look up at Dabi, who looks down at you with an encouraging nod, his hand placing itself atop your head.
"C-cool?" You repeat with uncertainty.
"Super cool!" Toga chimes, bouncing on the balls of her feet a couple times before spinning around. "Me and Magne chose it!"
Dabi slowly encourages you further into the room, Jin reaching his arms out for a hug, that you're more than willing to head straight for, reaching out for him too.
He lifts you up with a dramatic and playful 'oof', hugging you tight against him in the air as you giggle, placing you gently back on the floor.
Spinner grins at you, making you blush a little, turning your face to hide the heat in your cheeks. Magne gives your hair a little ruffle, and you lift yourself onto a bar stool beside Dabi.
"Ready? Ready?" Toga asks, bouncing beside you.
"Okay..." You agree, wishing you could reach out for Dabi's hand.
Jin stands behind you, resting his chin on top of your head. Spinner leans his face on his fist, looking over at Atsuhiro. Magne is looking over at Atsuhiro with a small smile too. Shigaraki is on his phone, not paying too much mind to his surroundings, instead scowling a little at the screen.
You look over at Atsuhiro too, curious about why everyone's attention is on him.
He grins at you, giving you a wink, a blue marble appearing between his fingers seemingly out of nowhere. Your mouth drops open instantly, amazed by what little show of magic he'd shown.
This gets a chuckle out of most of the others, and you watch, entranced, as Atsuhiro spins the marble between his fingers quickly, but smoothly and effortlessly.
The speed of the marble picks up to the point it's basically a blue blur, and suddenly, with a little 'poof' there's a giant duck plush in Atsuhiro's lap.
You give an amazed 'oooh!', your mouth forming an 'o' shape as you lean forward, closer to Atsuhiro, and Jin's chin leaves the top of your head.
"Tada!" Toga giggles excitedly. "It's a big ducky!"
You blink a couple times.
"You and Dabi always go to see the ducks! So I got you a big one while we can't go out!" She exclaims, picking it up from Atsuhiro's lap.
It really was huge, it was pretty much the size of her if you took into account its long neck.
Your mouth remains frozen in its look of awe. You'd never had a plushie that big before, you'd only ever really had teddy to play with growing up.
"We all got it." Shigaraki grumbles with a pointed look at Toga.
"That thing is huge, Toga!" Dabi gripes, tucking a cigarette behind his ear, almost losing it in the mass of his black hair. "Star, that thing ain't goin' in the bed, alright? We struggle wi' space as it is."
"It's really for me?" You ask quietly as Toga thrusts it towards you.
"Yup!" She chirps, bobbing her head up and down, blonde strands of hair bouncing around her face. "From all of us! For bein' awesome!"
"Good job Star!" They all call out, apart from Shigaraki, whose vermillion eyes are boring into the side of your head as you take the giant soft toy into your arms, hugging it tightly and burying your face into its body.
Dabi ruffles your hair, even with your face buried in your new toy.
"It's a thank you, Star." You hear Shigaraki rasp. "Without you, things could have been a lot worse. So thanks. From all of us."
You bury your face further into the soft body of your giant duck, hoping your tears of relief and joy don't stain it.